49ers pre-draft visit: West Virginia DT Dante Stills

According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Media, West Virginia defensive tackle Dante Stills is visiting with the San Francisco 49ers ahead of next week's draft. The Bay Area team also met with Stills at the NFL Scouting Combine.

Stills registered 26 tackles, nine tackles for a loss, 4.5 sacks, a pass defensed, and two forced fumbles through 12 game appearances as a senior in 2022, per Sports Reference. He recorded 137 tackles, 53 tackles for a loss, 24.5 sacks, four passes defensed, an interception, and five forced fumbles through his five collegiate seasons.

The defensive lineman is the son of former NFL linebacker Gary Stills.

"Stills lacks the girth of a 4-3 three-technique, the get-off of a 4-3 end and the two-gapping take-on of a traditional odd-front end," Lance Zierlein of NFL.com wrote in the player's scouting report. "However, he has physical/play attributes that have allowed him to play in all three spots. Finding a fit for him will be paramount, but his quickness and agility will be valued in schemes employing gaming, active fronts. He can be a handful as a twisting interior rusher, but he needs to develop go-to rush moves to help create additional value in that area. Stills could find rotational reps as an odd- or even-front end with the ability to rush from the interior."

Stills is from Fairmont, WV. He earned a pre-draft grade of 5.96 from NFL.com, which equates to an "average backup or special-teams player," per the site's 8-point grading scale.

At the NFL Scouting Combine, the 6' 3 1/2" and 286-pound Stills had a 40-time of 4.85 seconds, a vertical jump of 28.5 inches, a broad jump of 113 inches, a 7.38-second three-cone drill time, 20 reps in the bench press, and a 20-yard shuttle time of 4.61 seconds. His other measurables include an arm length of 32 3/8 inches and hands measuring 9 5/8 inches.

Stills had 26 reps in the bench press at his personal Pro Day, per NFLDraftBuzz. At his school Pro Day, he had a 40-time of 5.05 seconds, a vertical jump of 30.60 inches, and a 20-yard shuttle time of 4.24 seconds.

Below is the NFL.com draft profile bio on Stills:

Stills was a two-time first-team All-State selection at Fairmont Senior High School in West Virginia. He made 16 tackles (6.5 for loss with three sacks) in 12 games as a true freshman. Stills played in 12 games the following year and earned second-team All-Big 12 honors (25 tackles, 11.5 for loss with seven sacks). He earned honorable mention All-Big 12 accolades in 2020 (35 tackles, 10.5 for loss with two sacks in 10 starts). In 2021, he ascended to first-team All-Big 12 status by leading his squad with 15 tackles for loss and seven sacks in 12 starts (36 total tackles, one interception). Stills' production dropped in 2022 (26 tackles, nine for loss, two forced fumbles), though he topped WVU with 4.5 sacks to again find himself on the first-team all-conference rolls. His brother, Darius, played for West Virginia and went undrafted in 2021. Their father, Gary, was a third-round pick of the Kansas City Chiefs in 1999 and spent 10 years in the NFL. -- by Chad Reuter